dan's father joined the national guard. dan deployed for a year in iraq and james almost didn't come home from iraq, when a grenade hit his vehicle. >> the war is not over. we still have a job to do. suzy, right now she just thinks i'm going to work and i won't be back for a long time. >> reporter: suzy, his 4-year-old who can't quite pronounce -- >> afghanistan. >> reporter: -- much less comprehend where daddy's going. >> it is very hard to talk to the family, what if we don't come back? that's just what everybody knows about going to war. you try to talk about it but how can you? >> reporter: the u.s. military doesn't have a specific policy about the deployment at the same time of an entire family unit. in this case, parents and a child. the military says it also does not keep track of how many cases like this are out there, but ask anybody around here and they'll tell you this is something they have almost never heard of. >> we have so many american heroes in this country that serve every day. it's enormous, the amount o